The Government of South Africa has condemned the spreading of disinformation concerning its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Minister, Ronald Lamola, stated that such efforts seek to mislead the public and draw attention away from an ongoing genocide which is unfolding in Gaza and is televised on a daily basis.
"The lamentable aspersions being cast on our case form part of a larger campaign to shield Israel from accountability, to dehumanise Palestinians, and to undermine a just case firmly rooted in international law," the Minister said at a media briefing on Tuesday.
He added that these recent disinformation efforts are part of a pattern aimed at undermining among others United Nations (UN) bodies, personnel, rapporteurs, international courts, and conscionable individuals who long to see an end to Israel's genocidal campaign.
"We firmly reject these aspersions and confirm that our national fiscus is carrying the cost of this contentious case.
"We remain unfettered in our solidarity with the Palestinian cause and in our resolve to invoke the relevant organs of the United Nations to end the Israeli genocidal destruction of the Palestinian people and to bring about a just and lasting peace in the State of Palestine," he said.
Last month, South Africa formally filed its Memorial to the ICJ in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Gaza (South Africa v. Israel).
READ | South Africa delivers evidence of Israel genocide to ICJ
At the briefing, Lamola emphasised that post-apartheid South Africa has been consistent in advocating for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including for Israel to end its unlawful occupation which continues to deny the Palestinian people their right to self-determination.
He explained that South Africa's principled approach is firmly rooted in its own experience of colonialism and apartheid, international law, and the UN Charter, whose core purpose is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
"We have repeatedly taken our support for the State of Palestine to multilateral platforms, amplifying the Palestinian struggle on the international stage. This includes initiating and supporting countless United Nations resolutions in favour of Palestine, underpinned by consistent voting patterns since 1994. We have further been at the forefront of supporting the State of Palestine's admission as a full member of the United Nations," Lamola said.
South Africa's 28 October 2024 Memorial details how Israel is "physically killing Palestinians, denying them humanitarian aid, creating conditions intended for their physical destruction, and blatantly defying multiple provisional measures ordered by the ICJ."
Government has also presented evidence of Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war and its aim to depopulate Gaza through mass killing and forced displacement of Palestinians.
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"The evidence demonstrates unequivocally that undergirding Israel's genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, its failure to prevent genocide and incitement to genocide, and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide.
The prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide is a duty owed by all States, the prohibition of which is a peremptory norm of international law," he said.
The Minister said that it is for this reason that the Genocide Convention enables a Contracting Party under Article IX to invoke the ICJ's jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation, application, or fulfilment of the Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in Article III of the Convention.
